Girl Scout does brisk business selling cookies outside pot dispensary... -

Girl Scout does brisk business selling cookies outside pot dispensary... - 



What's cooler than a Girl Scout selling cookies?

A business-savvy Girl Scout who sets up shop outside a cannabis clinic to rev up her sales skills.

Thirteen-year-old Girl Scout Danielle Lei did brisk business last Monday selling Dulce de Leches and other flavors outside The Green Cross medical marijuana clinic in San Francisco, Mashable reported.

Danielle was able to sell 117 boxes within two hours outside the cannabis clinic -- 37 more than what she sold within the same time frame at a local Safeway the next day, according to Mashable.

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"It's no secret that cannabis is an appetite stimulant -- so it's not shocking that a lot of our patients came and purchased cannabis, and then saw the cookies and purchased them," said Holli Bert, a spokesperson for The Green Cross. "But it wasn't just patients, staff members and neighbors also bought the cookies. I personally bought five boxes. It turned out to be a big success."

Bert said that Danielle's mother had contacted The Green Cross to set up the sale outside the store.

"We were happy to have her (Danielle) come -- she is extremely business savvy," Bert said.

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Danielle's mother Carol takes her two daughters to different places around San Francisco to sell cookies so that "they can learn about different environments," Mashable reported.

Carol told NBC Bay Area that the family is not doing any interviews.

Green Cross is so happy with the outcome that they have invited Danielle back to their store on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. for a repeat performance.

The Green Cross posted about Danielle's visit on its Facebook page, including a link to an external poll, which asks people whether Girl Scouts should sell cookies outside legal marijuana shops.

The Girl Scouts of Northern California don't have a problem with this business strategy.

Dana Allen, the organization's marketing and communications director, told Mashable that "the mom decided this was a place she was comfortable with her daughter being at."

"We're not telling people where they can and can't go if it's a legitimate business," she said.

Read more -

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Girl-Scout-Does-Brisk-Business-Selling-Cookies-Outside-San-Francisco-Pot-Club-246452511.html

Company to Launch Tiny Satellites That 'Bypass' Internet Censorship... -

Company to Launch Tiny Satellites That 'Bypass' Internet Censorship... - 



Coming Soon: Free Internet From SpaceOuternet wants to use tiny satellites to take the whole world online—even in countries where dictators wish they wouldn’t.

If all goes according to plan, North Koreans will soon have free, uncensored Internet provided by satellites the size of toaster ovens.

That's part of a project called Outernet, which hopes to launch hundreds of tiny satellites—known as CubeSats—to provide Internet to every person on Earth. Forty percent of the world's people currently don't have access to the Web. In a little more than a year, Outernet plans to have a fleet of 24 satellites operational and testing to pave the way for a globe-spanning network.

The satellites won't be providing conventional Internet right away. They'll initially be used for one-way communication to provide services like emergency updates, news, crop prices, and educational programs. Users will help determine what content is offered.

The project's backers say knowledge is a human right—one they intend to provide even in countries where dictators have thus far limited access. "We exist to support the flow of independent news, information, and debate that people need to build free, thriving societies," said  Peter Whitehead, president of the Media Development Investment Fund, Outernet's backer. "It enables fuller participation in public life, holds the powerful to account and protects the rights of the individual."

It will be at least five years before Outernet can offer the more interactive Web as we know it, which allows users to both access information and upload it, said Syed Karim, MDIF's director of innovation.

Worldwide Internet could be available sooner, Karim said, if telecom giants invested in a few mega-capacity satellites like North America's ViaSat-1. Three years and $12 billion is all it would take to get the job done, he estimated. "We don't have $12 billion, so we'll do as much as we can with CubeSats and broadcast data," Karim said.

How much will it cost? Putting a 10x10x10-centimeter payload into orbit runs more than $100,000. A 34x10x10 satellite—the biggest unit Outernet is considering—costs more than $300,000 to launch. Now, multiply that by hundreds of satellites. "We want to stay as small as possible, because size and weight are directly related to dollars," Karim said. "Much of the size is dictated by power requirements and the solar panels needed satisfy those requirements."

To determine the range and size of its global fleet, Outernet will have to determine the gain on its signal. A higher gain would lower the satellite's reach but provide faster speeds. The first fleet's testing will help determine the right balance.

While Outernet's engineers test and prepare for launch, they're seeking support from those who believe in their cause. In addition to traditional donation sources like Paypal, they're also accepting online currencies like bitcoin and Dogecoin (bitcoin blockchains are among the initial services the one-way signals will offer). They're also asking NASA to let them test their technology on the International Space Station.

Read more - 

http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/coming-soon-free-internet-from-space-20140220

The "Ukraine Situation" Explained In One Map -

The "Ukraine Situation" Explained In One Map - 



Sadly, everything you need to know about the crisis in Ukraine in one worrisome map which summarizes all the relevant "red lines."

Given this - is there any doubt this will not end with peaceful resolution.

As Martin Armstrong warned this morning:

BOTH the USA and EU will now fund the rebels as Russia will fund Yanukovych. At the political level, Ukraine is the pawn on the chessboard. The propaganda war is East v West. However, those power plays are masking the core issue that began with the Orange Revolution – corruption. Yanukovych is a dictator who will NEVER leave office. It is simple as that. There will be no REAL elections again in Ukraine. This is starting to spiral down into a confrontation that the entire world cannot ignore.

Read more - 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-20/ukraine-situation-explained-one-map

What Happens When A Black Man And A White Man Try To Break Into The Same Car? -

What Happens When A Black Man And A White Man Try To Break Into The Same Car? - 



The man trying to get into Jason Roberts' car was clearly a professional.

His movements were quick, skilled and evidently practiced. He began to attract the notice of skeptical onlookers. Who was that man breaking into the Mazda? Shouldn't someone do something?

A "professional" was exactly what he was, and, having called AAA for help getting into his locked car, Roberts expected nothing less. He was, however, unnerved by the stares of the people questioning the motives of a mechanic who was only trying to help. Then it hit him -- they were suspicious because, unlike him, the mechanic was black.

Roberts, a host on the YouTube channel Simple Misfits, decided to replicate the situation, this time camera in hand, so that everyone could witness the same unacceptable double standard that he had. He didn't realize how intense the response would be. Watch the video above to see for yourself (warning: NSFW language).

When Roberts attempted to break into his car, he set off the alarm again and again, but received only a few raised eyebrows. When actor Quentin Brunson took his turn, Los Angeles police were on the scene within two minutes, greeting him with profanity and a harsh attitude.

"Let me see your fucking hands," ordered the first cop to arrive. "Get up against the wall."

Roberts stepped in immediately, but heavy questioning followed. "One thing that he was telling me that was really surprising is that there was a female cop -- I believe she was Caucasian -- she came up to [Brunson] and she asked, 'Oh, why are you so nervous? What's wrong, why are you trembling?'" Roberts told The Huffington Post.

According to Roberts' account, Brunson calmly explained to the cop that he'd never been arrested before. The police officer responded, "You've never been arrested before?"

Roberts' goal for the experiment, he said, was to raise awareness. The video is spreading on the Web just days after Michael Dunn, a white man who fired on a group of black teenagers in Florida, killing one, was convicted on three attempted murder counts but escaped his most serious charge of first-degree murder. Dunn's verdict has revived conversations about how white and black Americans face markedly different levels of suspicion and hostility in many situations.

Read more - 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/black-guy-breaks-into-car-simple-misfits_n_4816041.html

Wife calls 911 over hubby's hookup request - her husband wanted her to 'hook up with HIS own sisters' -

Wife calls 911 over hubby's hookup request - her husband wanted her to 'hook up with HIS own sisters' - 



A 58-year-old South Carolina woman called 911 because her husband wanted her to "hook up with his sisters," police said.

The woman told deputies she and her 72-year-old husband have "had some sex problems for the past two years," according to a Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office report obtained by The Smoking Gun.

Not only did the woman not want to hook up with her sisters-in-law, she wanted to know if there was a way she could prohibit them from coming to her house, according to the report.

Caught up in a sticky situation, the responding deputy wrote that he "explained the no-trespass law."

Read more - 

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/wife-calls-911-over-hubbys-hookup-request/-/1637132/24557280/-/stc18f/-/index.html

NIGHTMARE: New test suggests antidepressant Paxil may promote breast cancer... -

NIGHTMARE: New test suggests antidepressant Paxil may promote breast cancer... - 



A team of researchers from the City of Hope in Duarte has developed a speedy way to identify drugs and chemicals that can disrupt the balance of sex hormones in human beings and influence the development and progress of diseases such as breast cancer.
In a trial screening of 446 drugs in wide circulation, the new assay singled out the popular antidepressant paroxetine (better known by its commercial name, Paxil) as having a weak estrogenic effect that could promote the development and growth of breast tumors in women.
This is important because as many as a quarter of women being treated for breast cancer suffer from depression -- a condition most commonly treated with antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), including Paxil, which has been on the market since 1992. Almost a quarter of American women in their 40s and 50s are taking an antidepressant, mostly SSRIs.
Last summer, the Food and Drug Administration approved the marketing of a low dose of paroxetine -- repackaged under the commercial name Brisdelle -- as a nonhormonal treatment for hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.
About 70% of breast cancers in women are sensitive to estrogen, meaning that the hormone found plentifully in females of child-bearing age contributes to their growth.
The novel screening method developed at City of Hope, described in a forthcoming issue of the journal Toxicological Sciences, also identified two antifungal medications -- biconazole and oxyconazole -- as having an anti-estrogenic effect similar to that of medications prescribed to prevent breast cancer and its recurrences in women. Incidental to their intended use in combating fungal infections, those medications inhibit the action of aromatase, an enzyme that converts androgens -- hormones more plentiful in males but present in both sexes -- into estrogen.
Less surprising, the high-throughput screening mechanism identified bisphenol A -- a compound used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins -- as an estrogen promoter capable of raising breast cancer risk.
The discovery that Paxil behaves as an endocrine-disrupting chemical may shed light on growing suspicions about the medication in women who have had breast cancer. A 2010 study found that breast cancer patients in Canada who were taking Paxil were more likely than those taking other antidepressants to die of breast cancer when there was a substantial overlap in their use of that antidepressant and of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer recurrence.
The researchers surmised that paroxetine, which was taken by about a quarter of the depressed breast cancer patients in the study, might block the production of a liver enzyme needed to metabolize tamoxifen. The authors of the latest research said paroxetine's "weak estrogenic" effect "may be responsible, in part, for the observed reduction" in tamoxifen's effectiveness in that study.
The finding that paroxetine has estrogenic effects "has implications for patients with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer who are on other medications," said Shihuan Chen, professor and chairman of City of Hope's department of cancer biology and lead author of the study.
To confirm paroxetine's estrogenic action, the researchers performed a further analysis that found that many of the genes whose activity is altered by paroxetine are genes that also respond to estrogen. But the researchers said the assay does not show whether the antidepressant medication alters the activity of estrogen directly or by indirect means. 

Read more - 

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-antidepressant-paxil-breast-cancer-20140218,0,3273056.story#axzz2tmtvoWmS

What's Wrong With These Two Charts -

What's Wrong With These Two Charts - 


By now the weather apologists will have let you know that the latest economic data disappointment - housing starts and permits - both of which crashed in January, is solely due to the weather (the same apologists who will tell you that any good news is due only to the "recovery"). Alas, this time even the most cursory glance beneath the headlines reveals just how sad the lies truly are.

Presenting Exhibit A: the all important housing permits, which predate starts by 2-3 months, broken down by region. If indeed the weather was to blame, it would be the region that was hit the worst by the polar vortex, i.e., the Northeast, which would have been most impacted. Instead, we find that the one region where the 'weather impact" was double that of the Northeast, was the West, i.e., California, where balmy weather resulted in a seasonally adjusted permits crash of 26%!



Next, Exhibit B: Housing starts broken down by region. Same logic - if it was indeed the snow's fault that activity ground to a halt, the Northeast region would have cratered (and other regions would have flatlined at worst). Instead, we get this:



It is almost as if nobody even wants to put any effort into the lies anymore.

Read more - 

Streaming Wars: Netflix Traffic Gets Throttled By Broadband Companies, Leading To "Unwatchable" Results - 



For years, the Netflix streaming business has been growing like a parasite, happy to piggyback on established broadband infrastructures, where the broadband companies themselves have becomes competitors to Netflix for both distribution and content. Until now. Emboldened by the recent Net Neutrality ruling, which has put bandwidth hogs like Netflix which at last check was responsible for over 30% of all downstream US internet traffic...



... broadband providers are finally making their move, and in a preliminary salvo whose ultimate compromise will be NFLX paying lots of money, have started to throttle Netflix traffic. The WSJ reports that the war between the broadband-ers and the video streaming company has finally emerged from the "cold" phase and is fully hot.

Netflix Inc. subscribers have seen a lot more spinning wheels lately as they wait for videos to load, thanks to a standoff deep in the Internet.

The online-video service has been at odds with Verizon Communications Inc. VZ and other broadband providers for months over how much Netflix streaming content they will carry without being paid additional fees.

Now the long simmering conflict has heated up and is slowing Netflix, in particular, on Verizon's fiber-optic FiOS service, where Netflix says its average prime-time speeds dropped by 14% last month. The slowdown comes as Netflix is rolling out the new season of its Emmy-winning series "House of Cards."
Not surprisingly, Netflix wants broadband companies to hook up to its new video-distribution network without paying them fees for carrying its traffic. But the biggest U.S. providers—Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and AT&T Inc. —have resisted, insisting on compensation.

And while there is no legal basis with which Netflix can be pushed to pay for traffic, backbone companies are quietly putting the squeeze on the House of Cards maker where it hurts most: watching enjoyment.

Until the standoff gets resolved, the bulk of Netflix's traffic continues to flow across Internet intermediaries, including low-cost carrier Cogent Communications Group Inc. People familiar with Cogent's and Netflix's thinking say the cable and telephone companies are delaying upgrading existing connections. Executives at major broadband providers, meanwhile, privately blame the traffic jam on Netflix's refusal to distribute its traffic more efficiently.

Netflix said it carefully plans its routing to make sure customers have the best experience possible. Verizon said it treats all Internet traffic equally. Neither side is budging, people familiar with the matter said, leading to growing congestion.
The result is that the speed of NFLX traffic is crashing, something which will make watching its High Definition content increasingly more unpleasant as buffering times mean more time sitting watching spinning circle, and less time watching content.

Read more - 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-19/streaming-wars-netflix-traffic-gets-throttled-broadband-companies-leading-unwatchabl

People Are Undergoing Extreme Body Modifications In Order To Look More Like The Devil? -

People Are Undergoing Extreme Body Modifications In Order To Look More Like The Devil? - 



When does body modification go too far?  In recent years, the popularity of tattoos and body piercings has soared, but now there are thousands of people around the globe that are taking body modification to ridiculous extremes. 


For example, would you be willing to have your tongue split in two so that you could have a forked tongue?  What about getting eyeball tattoos or having titanium horns implanted in your head?  To most people, doing such things would be unimaginable, but there is a growing subculture of individuals out there that truly seem to enjoy “pushing the envelope” and seeing what is possible.  Some of them want to look like cats, some want to look like vampires, others want to look like aliens and some even want to look like the devil.  Yes, you read that correctly.  You are about to read about one man that is purposely modifying his body so that he will look as much like the devil as possible.  In fact, he even plans to add a tail someday.
If these were just isolated incidents, it probably would not be that big of a deal.  But as CNN recently reported, there are now thousands of people that have embraced “extreme body modification” as a lifestyle and the movement is growing rapidly.  In fact, CNN says that there is one website alone that has 3 million photos of extreme body modification…
Horns. Forked tongues. Elf ears. Whiskers.
No, these aren’t features from the latest fantasy film. Today, thousands of people are getting their bodies modified in all sorts of bizarre and unusual ways. Tattoos are just the tip of the iceberg for people interested in body modification, referred to as “body mutilation” by detractors.
People called “body modification artists” perform these unconventional surgical procedures, typically on young clients. These treatments range from the simple, such as implanting metal bolts on a person’s neck, to the extreme, such as creating ridges under a person’s skin in order to make him look like a human lizard.
So precisely what does this say about the current state of our society?
That is a very good question.
Often, the way that people express themselves outwardly is a reflection of who they really are on the inside.
In the case of a 43-year-old man from the UK named “Diablo Delenfer”, his stated goal is to look as much like the devil as possible…
Among the operations that Diablo Delenfer – real name Gavin Paslow – has so far endured are having his tongue sliced in two to fork it, sub-dermal implants to create a set of horns and an eyeball tattoo that has turned the whites of his eyes bright red.
But despite the pain, the 43-year-old insists he has no plans to stop. ‘I describe myself as a body modification artist,’ he explains.
‘I am a human curiosity but body modification is my life’s journey. It’s a little bit weird, a little bit eccentric but that’s what I am.’
A “little bit weird”?
As you can see from the video posted below, he definitely looks more than a “little bit weird”…

But he is actually far from the most extreme case of body modification out there.
To me, a 35-year-old attorney from Mexico named Maria Cristerna takes the cake.
She has tattoos and piercings over 98 percent of her body and she is known as “the Vampire Lady”.  When people see her coming, many of them cross over to the other side of the street because she literally looks like a monster…
No-one dares to cross Maria Cristerna, dubbed The Vampire Lady.
The 35-year-old who grew up in a deeply religious family is covered head-to-toe in tattoos, had dental work so she appeares to have fangs and has even had titanium horns inserted into her head.
People used to walk on the other side of the road when they saw her coming.
The following video contains a news report about her.  It attempts to portray her as a “normal mother”…

I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember any mothers running around like that when I was growing up.
But you know what?  The Vampire Lady has become a mini-celebrity in recent years and she has traveled to events all over the world.
Our society is really starting to embrace this sort of thing.  And body modifications are not always just for cosmetic purposes.  For example, I wrote about the growing popularity of RFID microchip implants among young people the other day.  As time passes, it is going to become increasingly “cool” and “trendy” for young people to “enhance themselves” with various forms of technology.
As this trend grows, what will our society look like in a few years?
Personally, I don’t want anything to do with extreme body modifications, microchip implants or any other sort of “enhancements”.


What about you?
What do you think about these things?
Please feel free to share your opinion by posting a comment below…

Read more - 

http://thetruthwins.com/archives/people-are-undergoing-extreme-body-modifications-in-order-to-look-more-like-the-devil

Viewers 'binge' on 'House of Cards' after Netflix record high -

Viewers 'binge' on 'House of Cards' after Netflix record high - 



Netflix saw a bumper number of U.S. subscribers tune in to Web-only TV program "House of Cards" as the second series of the drama was made available on Friday, according to broadband technology firm Procera.
Some 16 percent of Netflix users on one particular Internet service supplied by an unspecified U.S. cable operator watched at least one episode of the show, said Procera.

Procera, which cannot share information on individual clients, said last year the number was 2 percent on a similar sized network, and described the jump in viewers as "massive."

Shares of Netflix hit an all-time high of $439.49 on Thursday, ahead of the show's launch, with the stock surging about 130 percent in the last year. In January the firm posted fourth-quarter earnings that smashed Wall Street's expectations with a fourth straight quarter of accelerating sales growth.
However, hedge fund Blue Ridge and billionaire investor Carl Icahn dumped their shares in Netflix, with Icahn cutting his stake by 2.9 million shares to 2.7 million shares according to a regulatory filing on Friday for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

The network monitored by Procera showed "clear signs of binge watching" as the numbers for each episode show viewers are continuing to watch the series throughout the day on Friday.

Read more - 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101421361